Cáoní

Caoni lay in the mountain country of northwestern Guizhou, in the region later centred on Bijie. Under the Yuan it was the seat of a native office subordinate to Shunyuan, among the districts governed through local chiefs. The area belonged to the wider Shuixi country, where the rulers of the Luo and later An family held authority over many communities. In the Ming period a military garrison was established at Bijie, giving the old district a new place in the network of posts across the western plateau.